The present invention relates generally to an electronic lock, and more particularly to a locking mechanism of the electronic lock.
The locks are generally grouped into a mechanical lock and an electronic lock. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the mechanical lock has a lock belly 1 which is disposed in the door body 2 and is provided in the interior thereof with a retaining block 4 linking a lock tongue 3. A control mechanism 5 disposed in the outside of the door body 2 is provided with a lock core 6 which is put through the retaining block 4 such that the lock core 6 is connected at other end thereof with a rotating mechanism 7 disposed in the door body 2. The key is inserted into the control mechanism 5 to turn the lock core 6, thereby causing the retaining block 4 to actuate the lock tongue 3 to extract or retract so as to lock or unlock the door body 2. The mechanical lock has to be worked on by a key, which is apt to be misplaced or lost. In addition, the mechanical lock is vulnerable to being tampered with by an unauthorized person.
The conventional electronic locks are generally provided with an electromagnetic control structure. For example, the U.S. patent Ser. No. 09/431,682 discloses by this inventor of the present invention an electronic lock comprising a housing 8 in which an electromagnetic coil seat 9 is disposed. The coil seat 9 is provided in a receiving slot 10 with a spring 11 and a protruded pillar 13 of an actuating block 12, with a stop ring 14 of the actuating block 12 being confined to one side of the spring 11. The actuating block 12 is provided at other end thereof with a fitting hole 15 for receiving a connection shaft 17 of an action piece 16 which is thus located at the outer sides of the coil seat 9 and the actuating block 12. The connection shaft 17 is provided at other end with a fixation piece which is connected with a handlebar 18. The coil seat 9 is locked at the outer side of the door body lock belly. When the coil seat 9 is connected with a power source to bring about a magnetic force, the action piece 16 is attracted inwards to push the actuating block 12 to displace inward to compress the spring 11. As a result, the protruded pillar 13 is inserted into the retaining block 19 to control the unlocking of the lock tongue. In the meantime, the fitting hole 15 of the actuating block 12 remains connected with the connection shaft 17, thereby resulting in the unlocking state to enable the door body to be opened. When the power supply to the coil seat 9 is interrupted, the actuating block 12 is forced by the spring force of the spring 11 to move back to its original position. As a result, the protruded pillar 13 moves away from the retaining block 19, without being capable of controlling the action of the lock tongue. The lock is thus in the locking state. In light of the electronic lock being controlled electromagnetically, the electronic lock remains automatically in the locking state as soon as the power source of the electronic lock is interrupted. In order to keep the electronic lock in the unlocking state to facilitate the people to go through the door, the power source of the electronic lock must be kept on to enable the door knob to be linked with the retaining block 19, thereby resulting in an excessive power consumption.
The primary objective of the present invention is to provide an electronic lock which is relatively simple in construction and is energy efficient.
In keeping with the principle of the present invention, the foregoing objective of the present invention is attained by the electronic lock comprising a rotating mechanism which is disposed in the internal side of a door body and is provided with a lock core. The lock core is linked with a retaining mechanism to control the action of the lock tongue. A locking structure is disposed in the external side of the door body such that the locking structure is connected with the lock core for controlling the action of the lock tongue. The locking structure comprised a threaded sleeve having inner threads and a lug. The threaded sleeve is fitted into an actuating ring having an outer projection which-is provided with a retaining slot. An insertion seat is fastened with the front end of the threaded sleeve such that the insertion slide slot of the insertion seat receives the outer projection of the actuating ring. An inner sleeve seat is provided with a notch which is in turn provided. with a position confining slot for retaining the lug of-the threaded sleeve. The inner sleeve seat is provided in the rear end with a motor with a threaded shaft which is engaged with the threaded sleeve. The inner sleeve seat is fixed in the external side of the door body such that the inner sleeve seat is opposite in location to the lock core, which is fitted into the insertion slot of the insertion seat. The lock core is linked with the lock tongue of the retaining mechanism. The inner sleeve seat is further provided with an outer sleeve seat having retaining teeth for meshing with the retaining slot of the actuating ring. Before the lock is unlocked, the encode-decode is entered in the external side of the door body. The encode-decode is entered by means of the keyboard, the remote controller, the sensor, etc. The motor is electronically started such that the threaded sleeve actuates the actuating ring to displace axially in the inner sleeve seat such that the retaining slot of the actuating ring is engaged with the retaining teeth of the outer sleeve seat. The outer sleeve seat is linked with the insertion seat via the actuating ring. As a result, the lock core can be turned to enable the door body to be opened. The electronic lock is locked by entering the decode. The motor is started to drive the threaded sleeve to displace in reverse, thereby causing the retaining slot of the actuating sleeve to move away from the retaining teeth of the outer sleeve seat. As a result, the outer sleeve seat is no longer able to link the insertion seat so as to rotate the lock core. The lock core can not be turned from the external side of the door body.
As soon as the motor is stopped operating, the threaded sleeve is fixed. In spite of power interruption, the outer sleeve seat is still linked with the lock core to keep the electronic lock in the unlocking state for a prolonged period of time without power consumption by the electronic lock of the present invention.
The structures and the functions of the present invention will be more readily understood upon a thoughtful deliberation of the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings.